Former Brooklyn Center, Minnesota, police officer Kim Potter was sentenced to 24 months and fined $1,000 on Feb. 18 for fatally shooting 20-year-old Daunte Wright.
According to CNN, the sentence is less than what prosecutors requested and what is permitted by the state sentencing guidelines. Wright’s family also asked for the maximum sentence possible.
- But Potter’s attorneys argued for a lesser sentence because of her lack of prior criminal history and remorse. She has already served 58 days and is expected to serve 16 months in prison and the remaining eight on supervised release, per ABC News.
Judge Regina Chu acknowledged that it was a lower sentence.
- “This is one of the saddest cases I have had in my 20 years on the bench,” Chu said during the sentencing. “Officer Potter made a mistake that ended tragically, but she never intended to hurt anyone.”
- She also said that she received hundreds of letters on the former police officer’s behalf.
Potter thought she was using a taser and not her firearm during the fatal shooting, according to Deseret News. She subsequently sent a letter of resignation.
Wright’s family spoke before the sentencing, according to USA Today.
- “I will never be able to forgive you for what you’ve stolen from us,” Katie Wright, Daunte Wright’s mother, said before the court. ”My life and my world will never, ever, be the same.”
- ”She didn’t try to save him. You should have done better,” Wright said in tears.